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Dag Diamond

Page history last edited by Zonker Harris 9 months ago

At Bricks Cascade 2022, I was inspired by Dag's "Diamond District". These were three modules that are diamond-shaped, versus being square or rectangular, and they effectively shift the city grid by 45 degrees (which is tough to do, since LEGO doesn't make many parts with 45-degree angles. The net effect, on the points of the diamonds, is either a 3-way or a 5-way intersection! Can't imagine this? That's why I took pictures!

 

 

 

These pictures were NOT enough for me to duplicate the success that Dag had. In 2023, I took over the role at Bricks Cascade of theme coordinator for Microscale. (I was the new Micro Manager!) This gave me a LOT of time to study the diamonds up close, and take more pictures to see the details that escaped my lens in 2022! for my winter paly time, I tried again, like last year, working it "freestyle" and trying to test-fit with some of my MoC and some basic block frames. Still failing to get a good fit.

 

Tip Number 1:  Build a test frame, then start building within that frame.

Putting my models around a work-in progress made the work area crowded. So, I built a test "frame"... I built two 32-stud and two 16-stud Micropolis2 side sections, with arch bricks and technic hole bricks, and marking where the crosswalks would be. I then joined these at the points using 2x2 hinge bricks. I used a few of the technic pins with the shortest shoulders, just to help keep my test pieces connected while I fussed with the rest of the surface.  I started building the diamond "studs down", connecting to the wall, and developing the feather-like design using 1x__ plates of assorted lengths. This was also a good way to lay in various "wing" plates, to see what might fit well.

 

 

Building the second half of the diamond was where the "give and take" started happening. In the end, I was able to use some 2x2 hinge plates to join the left half to the right half. As the build was feeling more "stable", I added the plates that hold the brick elements along the side walls.  This made the whole assembly sturdy enough to release the frame (pull off 1-2 of the 2x2 hinge bricks) and turn it over, to start working on the top surface (adding road, crosswalks and sidewalks). 

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